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PODCAST

Talking Tokens

Jacquelyn Melinek, Token Relations

Talking Tokens is a podcast focused on interviewing the best crypto leaders, startups, market players and up-and-coming founders that are changing the industry. Join Jacquelyn Melinek, an award-nominated host and seasoned crypto journalist-turned-entrepreneur, to dive into the best talks in crypto in an easy-to-understand way. The episodes will air every Tuesday and Thursday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, X and more. For more updates, subscribe to the Talking Tokens newsletter here:

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All Episodes

00:43:45

TradFi, Tokenization & DeFi Are Finally Converging —...

Talking Tokens ·

2025/07/10

In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Annelise Osborne, Chief Business Officer at Kadena — a proof-of-work Layer 1 built by former JP Morgan blockchain leads. Kadena isn’t just another chain; it’s an ambitious bet that regulation, decentralization, and enterprise-grade tooling can live in the same ecosystem.They dive into Annelise’s Wall Street background, her work on the SEC’s ICO task force, and why she sees tokenization, smart contracts, and privacy as the keys to bridging

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00:19:57

Why This Crypto Fund Is Doubling Down While Others...

Talking Tokens ·

2025/07/08

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sits down live at the Finance Leaders Collective with Jonas Kristensen, Head of Wintermute Ventures — the investment arm of one of crypto’s most prolific trading firms. With over 100 startup investments since 2019, Wintermute has become a force in early-stage crypto VC.Jonas shares how they spot high-conviction founders, why stablecoins are the hottest sector right now, and how regulation, memecoins, and institutional appetite are shaping the space. He

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00:43:17

Symbiotic Team Quietly Raised $29M and then Went Live...

Talking Tokens ·

2025/07/03

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Misha Putiatin, co-founder of Symbiotic — the cross-chain staking protocol that quietly raised $29M in April from Pantera, Coinbase Ventures, and 100+ angels.Rather than announce with a whitepaper, Symbiotic launched with product in hand — already live across 16 networks. Misha dives deep into why staking infrastructure today is broken, how Symbiotic is enabling universal staking without one-size-fits-all assumptions, and how the team’s 25

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00:37:55

How This Chain Is Redesigning Crypto for AI +...

Talking Tokens ·

2025/07/01

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Jack O’Holleran, co-founder of SKALE Network and CEO of SKALE Labs. Jack shares why MEV is a hidden tax on users, how FAIR — SKALE’s new Layer- 1 — aims to eliminate it at the consensus level, and how crypto infrastructure must evolve for an AI-driven future.They discuss the difference between SKALE and FAIR, why stablecoins and AI will become deeply intertwined, and how the dual-token model will reward SKALE holders as FAIR goes live. Jack

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00:32:11

Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey Backed This — Here’s What Happened

Talking Tokens ·

2025/06/26

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Abubakar Nur Khalil, CEO of Recursive Capital and board member and CEO of Btrust — the Bitcoin development organization backed by Jack Dorsey and Jay-Z. Abubakar has been at the center of Bitcoin’s growth across Africa, from launching a venture fund to distributing over $1.7 million in grants to open-source developers.They discuss why Btrust is expanding from Africa to Latin America, the role of Bitcoin in energy, governance, and national

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00:52:14

Kevin Boon | Why Sui’s Core Team Rejected the ETH...

Talking Tokens ·

2025/06/24

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Kevin Boon, President of Mysten Labs, the core team behind the Sui blockchain. From fine arts and law to building crypto infrastructure, Kevin shares his unconventional journey and what’s next for the Sui ecosystem.They discuss how Kevin balances legal and leadership roles, how the community responded to the recent Cetus exploit, and why Mysten is building out its own full infrastructure stack. Kevin also talks about tokenized equities,

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00:43:21

MC Lader | How Uniswap Is Building the Full Crypto Stack

Talking Tokens ·

2025/06/19

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Mary-Catherine “MC” Lader, President and COO of Uniswap Labs. Uniswap is behind the world’s largest decentralized exchange and recently launched Unichain, a new layer-2 blockchain built to optimize trading and liquidity.They discuss Mary’s journey from Goldman Sachs to BlackRock, where she founded the digital assets division in 2015 and led early innovation in tokenization. Now at Uniswap, MC shares her vision for simplifying DeFi, why the

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00:31:18

Mary Gooneratne | Why DeFi Credit Markets Are Being...

Talking Tokens ·

2025/06/17

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Mary Gooneratne, co-founder of Loopscale. Loopscale is a lending protocol on Solana designed to give sophisticated users more control over capital, collateral, and credit risk. They discuss how Mary went from building on Ethereum during DeFi summer to pivoting toward Solana, why the protocol shifted from pool-based lending to order-book-style credit markets, and how Loopscale recovered all user funds after a $5.8 million exploit. Mary breaks

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00:43:38

Amir Haleem | How Helium’s Crypto Infrastructure Is...

Talking Tokens ·

2025/06/12

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Amir Haleem, CEO and co-founder of Helium. Helium has a decentralized wireless network powered by community-run hotspots that supports IoT devices and mobile coverage. Today, its WiFi network boasts over 93,500 hotspots across the U.S. and Mexico, and the network serves around 1 million daily users. Helium has also secured major partnerships with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Telefónica.They discuss how Amir and Napster’s Shawn Fanning co-founded

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00:48:46

Muneeb Ali | Why Bitcoin Layer 2s Are Suddenly...

Talking Tokens ·

2025/06/10

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Muneeb Ali, the founder of Stacks. Stacks is a Bitcoin layer-2 blockchain that turns BTC into programmable money — unlocking smart contracts, lending markets, and yield without changing Bitcoin’s base layer. The network has already surpassed $500 million in total value locked and is pushing toward self-custodial infrastructure that removes the need for signers or bridges.They discuss Muneeb’s journey from Princeton PhD to building one of the

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00:43:47

Chris Maurice | The $90 Bank Fee That Launched a...

Talking Tokens ·

2025/06/05

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Chris Maurice, the co-founder and CEO of Yellow Card. Yellow Card powers on-and-off ramp payments for over 30,000 businesses across Africa. It was Africa’s most funded crypto exchange after raising $88 million. It has since pivoted from retail crypto access to becoming the stablecoin backbone for businesses in high-friction markets.They discuss Chris’ journey from selling Bitcoin at Taco Bell to running a multi-country exchange, why he

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00:34:10

Tomer Weller | You Can Move Millions Without a Bank....

Talking Tokens ·

2025/06/03

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Tomer Weller, Chief Product Officer at the Stellar Development Foundation. Stellar is a blockchain network focused on real-world financial use cases — from cross-border payments to tokenized treasuries — and has quietly built one of the strongest infrastructures in emerging markets like Latin America and Africa, including a major partnership with MoneyGram.They discuss Stellar’s evolution over the past 11 years, why it chose to stay

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00:38:43

Gabe Otte | Why Tokenized Stocks Could Revolutionize...

Talking Tokens ·

2025/05/29

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Gabe Otte, CEO and Co-Founder of Dinari. They discuss why Gabe decided to focus on tokenized securities back in 2021, its expansion into LatAm and South East Asia and United Arab Emirates as well as how the sector has gained traction in recent months and the biggest opportunities to come.===============You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or Youtube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a

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00:33:07

Stani Kulechov | Insides Aave’s New Plan to Scale...

Talking Tokens ·

2025/05/27

Today’s episode is a fireside chat Jacquelyn recorded with Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave Labs, while at the Avalanche Summit in London last week.They discuss Aave V4, the latest architectural upgrade, for the largest DeFi protocol. Stani also explains how this new model can unlock more for lending protocols, his insights on the changing DeFi landscape and more.

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00:21:11

Chris Pavlovski | Tether’s $775M Bet on Rumble: The...

Talking Tokens ·

2025/05/22

Today we’re sharing Jacquelyn’s fireside chat with Chris Pavlovski, founder and CEO of Rumble, at Consensus 2025. Rumble is a video, streaming and cloud-based tech company that closed a $775M strategic investment from Tether in February. We discuss Rumble’s journey fighting censorship to protect free speech globally, how it’s pushing into the crypto space and bringing the asset class to creators, how decentralization ties into the business’ mission and more.===============You can subscribe to the

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00:39:47

Chris Osborn | This Solana Startup Is Finally Making...

Talking Tokens ·

2025/05/20

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Chris Osborn, CEO of Dialect. About a year ago, Dialect co-launched blockchain links, or blinks, with Solana and has since powered over 600 integrations since then. They discuss how Dialect is on a mission to improve crypto integrations, the current user experience, creating more trust and security alongside developers and what’s next for mobile and desktop crypto applications.This episode is a part of the Solana Sessions campaign that

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00:50:05

Pranav and Wyatt | Inside VanEck’s Crypto Playbook:...

Talking Tokens ·

2025/05/15

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Pranav Kanade, portfolio manager for digital assets at VanEck, and Wyatt Lonergan the GP of VanEck Ventures VanEck is an asset management firm that has been around since 1955 – and has made strides in the crypto space in recent years with its spot bitcoin ETF HODL, as well as its $40M venture fund that also invests in crypto startups, among other sectors.Pranav and Wyatt share their thoughts on tokenizing liquid vs illiquid assets, the state

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00:42:19

Anthony Scaramucci Thinks Bitcoin Is Going to $500K

Talking Tokens ·

2025/05/13

Today’s episode is with Anthony Scaramucci, founder and managing partner of SkyBridge and founder and chairman of SALT.We recorded this episode at SALT Bermuda, where asset managers, allocators, institutional players and more are having discussions on digital assets. Anthony shares his latest insights on institutional crypto demand, the current state of crypto adoption, his 20-year company anniversary and more since we last spoke after SALT’s Wyoming Blockchain Symposium in August 2024.

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00:37:49

Michael Sonnenshein | Securitize's COO Shares Why...

Talking Tokens ·

2025/05/08

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Michael Sonnenshein, chief operating officer at Securitize. Securitize is focused on tokenizing real world assets and bringing finance onchain through tokenized funds. It has partnered with major asset managers like BlackRock, Apollo, Hamilton Lane and KKR.They discuss Securitize’s tokenization focus: honing in on tokenized treasuries, equities and securities. They also dive into stablecoins, bringing finance onchain and how institutions are

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00:36:33

Rubail Birwadker | How Visa Will Dominate Crypto...

Talking Tokens ·

2025/05/06

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Rubail Birwadker, Visa’s SVP, Head of Growth Products & PartnershipsThey discuss Visa’s multi-year journey in crypto, how the technology can improve payments and settlements, as well as the role stablecoins is playing today within its massive financial services conglomerate.You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or Youtube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!Note that this podcast is for

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163 results

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